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selenakI started my Once upon a Time season 3 rewatch and am four episodes in. Damm but the Neverland arc was good. After reading and watching The Lost Boys and rereading Peter Pan, I appreciate even more how clever and creative the show's adaption of various elements was, bypassing the Disney version entirely and going straight for the Barrie. (In a darkside fashion, yes, but there's considerable darkness in the original already.) And it really fits with Emma's emotional development up to this point. Lost Girl (3.02.) has what is probably my favourite scene between Emma and Snow at its climax. "I am an orphan." I love all about this. That this is the emotional truth Emma's been repressing - and which Neverland brings out -, that Snow has figured this out before Emma does and gently guides her into facing it, that Snow isn't in denial about this or defending her own maternal qualities but understands why Emma feels this way. "It's the truth. And it's my job to change that."
BTW, if you compare the way s3 handles Emma's abandonment-by-parents issues (and guilt re: Henry in turn) and the day it deftly connects them to Neverland/Peter Pan elements with the clumsy way s4 did this with in the first part giving her Elza-similar issues re: her magic and in the second half, before I stopped watching, with the awful Maleficent/Snow/Charming retcon, the loss of storytelling quality is even more telling.
Ditto, btw, for Rumplestilskin. Like I said, I'm only four episodes in, but I think this was his last good storyline. The show should have left him dead in the present after his mid season exit. Ironically, one issue I had during the original broadcast of these first few episodes was that I thought the Rumple scenes dragged until 2.04 when he encounters both Neal and Peter Pan. But be it the difference between weekly and marathon watching or the fact I know what's coming (whereas during original broadcast I felt disappointed he was separated from the rest of the regulars, since I had been hoping for Rumplestilskin and Regina, Emma, Snow, Charming and Hook interaction during the season hiatus), I didn't mind them this time around, not even the chats with imaginary Belle. Basically what Neverland does for Rumplestilskin is confronting him both with his inner lost boy (the abandoned child who, unlike Emma who struggles with different circumstances but not dissimilar emotions, responded by clinging too tightly to compensation, be they people or power) and the boy he lost. And at the end of the Neverland arc, he's finally able to let go in so many ways (in a physical gesture which is a Mafia style lethal embrace), overcome the centuries long habit of screwing over people for self preservation and is able to save his son and grandson in the process.
This time around, I noticed immediately that Peter Pan calls Rumplestilskin "laddie" in the first sentence he addresses to him directly. And of course Pan's comment "this is a true family reunion" when Rumple and Baelfire/Neal step into the clearing is even more loaded. And this is as good a place as any for a round of applause for Robbie Kay as Peter Pan. He's got charisma to burn, he can bring on the vicious and taunting as well as the playing harmless (when he first pretends to be an on the run escapee with Henry), the playful amorality (which is Barrie's Pan without the later's sense of fair play and occasional capacity for compassion), and you believe the ageless factor even before the big reveal. (The other big difference between this completely darkside Peter and Barrie's, who has been described by his creator as a "demonic boy" more than once, is of course that Barrie's version isn't afraid of death, but more about that when I get to the later episodes.) Looking back, he's my favourite seasonal antagonist other than Cora. (If we don't count Regina and Rumplestilskin, since they were always something more complicated than Emma's antagonists, even in s1.) The fact that the show uses Felix in the first episode (when Peter Pan is still pretending to be a harmless kid) as the main heavy underlines how good Robbie Kay is as an actor, because the one who plays Felix, while not being terrible, is still very standard "I'm playing a creepy kid/villain, watch me ham it up!" Whereas Robbie Kay, once Pan reveals himself to Henry, just casually says a single line and is far more chilling than Felix during the entire half season.
And while we're talking actors: I know I've been a bit hard on the one who plays Neal the adult, making him responsible that Neal never quite sells me on being the adult version of Baelfire and comparing him to his disadvantage with the teenager who plays Bae. (Whom we see for the last time in the 2.04. flashbacks; I can understand why they couldn't use him anymore - the kid was growing up and already looks noticably older than in the s1 flashback set LATER where he ends up in a portal - but I missed him in a way I never missed Neal.) Upon this rewatch, I'd like to qualify this judgment: I think in the early Enchanted Forest scenes with Mulan and Robin Hood he comes across as very uncomfortable; the actor, I mean, and not in the way Neal is supposed to be when back for the first time in what used to be his home dimension after centuries but separated from Henry, Emma and his father; the actor basically seems to be thinking "what am I doing in this weird set decorations?", and lines like "in these lands, I'm known as Baelfire" feel horribly fake. (Whereas in Tallahassee in Emma's flashbacks, he felt entirely at ease in the modern setting, so I thought it's probably the costume/fairy tale factor.) However, his scenes with Robert Carlyle in 3.04 do sell me on this being the adult Baelfire, that these are are father and son with their particular history talking. (Does it signify Henry's out cold during the entire time, and the actor thus could concentrate on Robert Carlyle, whereas with Mulan, Philip, Aurora and Robin there were always several people to interact with?)
Speaking of that scene, as during the original broadcast it impressed me that you can see where both characters are coming from, why Neal can't let go of his distrust once he finds out about the prophecy (and given that Rumple admits he would have killed a non-Henry prophecy boy already, plus given the audience knows, though Neal does not, he even considered killing Henry for a while, it's not as if its unfounded), and how deeply Rumple loves his son. "You aremy happy ending." Despite all the s4 annoyingness before I quit, that still moved me deeply. At the same time, because that's how I roll, I was thrilled about Neal/Baelfire using the magical creature immobilizing squid ink on Rumple via filial handholding. It was clever, it was ruthless, and it's part of the reasons why this is one of the few times adult Neal makes me believe he's Rumplstilskin's son. (Also, may I say: using that ink on Pan and Rumple both makes Neal more efficient in Operation Rescue Henry than the rest of the characters are at this point. Well, until Pan unfreezes and effortlessly recaptures Neal and Henry, but still.)
S3 is also when Regina starts her second (and in retrospect successfull) attempt at the road to redemption, though this isn't her intention just yet. At this point, she just wants to get Henry back. Still, it's noticable that present day Regina is out of her default "when in doubt, blame Snow for life's unfairness" mode, most blatantly when Emma asks her about her backstory with Tinkerbell, and then later with present day Tink, too. Instead, we get clear "I" statements when it comes to responsibility.
And s3 starts the immensely entertaining Hook & Charmingbromance relationship. It's also Hook/Emma at its best, not yet the later angstfest but simply rueful banter, shared rum and him providing backup while teasing her a little. I remember again why I was warming up to the relationship at this point. (So does Emma.) Mind you, of all the Neverland elements Hook is the least related to his origin. Or only in as much as Barrie's Hook is a deliberate tongue-in-cheek evokation of pirate archetypes of the day, and OuaT is, too, only this is the pirate pop culture image post Jack Sparrow. But given that Barrie's Hook is fixated on Peter Pan whereas OuaT's Hook used to be fixated on Rumple as his nemesis and couldn't care less about Pan (other than knowing how dangerous he is and trying to avoid him), it's no wonder Killian can't play the Barrie Hook part in the narrative, and instead has a very different one (mostly with Emma and Charming).
BTW, if you compare the way s3 handles Emma's abandonment-by-parents issues (and guilt re: Henry in turn) and the day it deftly connects them to Neverland/Peter Pan elements with the clumsy way s4 did this with in the first part giving her Elza-similar issues re: her magic and in the second half, before I stopped watching, with the awful Maleficent/Snow/Charming retcon, the loss of storytelling quality is even more telling.
Ditto, btw, for Rumplestilskin. Like I said, I'm only four episodes in, but I think this was his last good storyline. The show should have left him dead in the present after his mid season exit. Ironically, one issue I had during the original broadcast of these first few episodes was that I thought the Rumple scenes dragged until 2.04 when he encounters both Neal and Peter Pan. But be it the difference between weekly and marathon watching or the fact I know what's coming (whereas during original broadcast I felt disappointed he was separated from the rest of the regulars, since I had been hoping for Rumplestilskin and Regina, Emma, Snow, Charming and Hook interaction during the season hiatus), I didn't mind them this time around, not even the chats with imaginary Belle. Basically what Neverland does for Rumplestilskin is confronting him both with his inner lost boy (the abandoned child who, unlike Emma who struggles with different circumstances but not dissimilar emotions, responded by clinging too tightly to compensation, be they people or power) and the boy he lost. And at the end of the Neverland arc, he's finally able to let go in so many ways (in a physical gesture which is a Mafia style lethal embrace), overcome the centuries long habit of screwing over people for self preservation and is able to save his son and grandson in the process.
This time around, I noticed immediately that Peter Pan calls Rumplestilskin "laddie" in the first sentence he addresses to him directly. And of course Pan's comment "this is a true family reunion" when Rumple and Baelfire/Neal step into the clearing is even more loaded. And this is as good a place as any for a round of applause for Robbie Kay as Peter Pan. He's got charisma to burn, he can bring on the vicious and taunting as well as the playing harmless (when he first pretends to be an on the run escapee with Henry), the playful amorality (which is Barrie's Pan without the later's sense of fair play and occasional capacity for compassion), and you believe the ageless factor even before the big reveal. (The other big difference between this completely darkside Peter and Barrie's, who has been described by his creator as a "demonic boy" more than once, is of course that Barrie's version isn't afraid of death, but more about that when I get to the later episodes.) Looking back, he's my favourite seasonal antagonist other than Cora. (If we don't count Regina and Rumplestilskin, since they were always something more complicated than Emma's antagonists, even in s1.) The fact that the show uses Felix in the first episode (when Peter Pan is still pretending to be a harmless kid) as the main heavy underlines how good Robbie Kay is as an actor, because the one who plays Felix, while not being terrible, is still very standard "I'm playing a creepy kid/villain, watch me ham it up!" Whereas Robbie Kay, once Pan reveals himself to Henry, just casually says a single line and is far more chilling than Felix during the entire half season.
And while we're talking actors: I know I've been a bit hard on the one who plays Neal the adult, making him responsible that Neal never quite sells me on being the adult version of Baelfire and comparing him to his disadvantage with the teenager who plays Bae. (Whom we see for the last time in the 2.04. flashbacks; I can understand why they couldn't use him anymore - the kid was growing up and already looks noticably older than in the s1 flashback set LATER where he ends up in a portal - but I missed him in a way I never missed Neal.) Upon this rewatch, I'd like to qualify this judgment: I think in the early Enchanted Forest scenes with Mulan and Robin Hood he comes across as very uncomfortable; the actor, I mean, and not in the way Neal is supposed to be when back for the first time in what used to be his home dimension after centuries but separated from Henry, Emma and his father; the actor basically seems to be thinking "what am I doing in this weird set decorations?", and lines like "in these lands, I'm known as Baelfire" feel horribly fake. (Whereas in Tallahassee in Emma's flashbacks, he felt entirely at ease in the modern setting, so I thought it's probably the costume/fairy tale factor.) However, his scenes with Robert Carlyle in 3.04 do sell me on this being the adult Baelfire, that these are are father and son with their particular history talking. (Does it signify Henry's out cold during the entire time, and the actor thus could concentrate on Robert Carlyle, whereas with Mulan, Philip, Aurora and Robin there were always several people to interact with?)
Speaking of that scene, as during the original broadcast it impressed me that you can see where both characters are coming from, why Neal can't let go of his distrust once he finds out about the prophecy (and given that Rumple admits he would have killed a non-Henry prophecy boy already, plus given the audience knows, though Neal does not, he even considered killing Henry for a while, it's not as if its unfounded), and how deeply Rumple loves his son. "You aremy happy ending." Despite all the s4 annoyingness before I quit, that still moved me deeply. At the same time, because that's how I roll, I was thrilled about Neal/Baelfire using the magical creature immobilizing squid ink on Rumple via filial handholding. It was clever, it was ruthless, and it's part of the reasons why this is one of the few times adult Neal makes me believe he's Rumplstilskin's son. (Also, may I say: using that ink on Pan and Rumple both makes Neal more efficient in Operation Rescue Henry than the rest of the characters are at this point. Well, until Pan unfreezes and effortlessly recaptures Neal and Henry, but still.)
S3 is also when Regina starts her second (and in retrospect successfull) attempt at the road to redemption, though this isn't her intention just yet. At this point, she just wants to get Henry back. Still, it's noticable that present day Regina is out of her default "when in doubt, blame Snow for life's unfairness" mode, most blatantly when Emma asks her about her backstory with Tinkerbell, and then later with present day Tink, too. Instead, we get clear "I" statements when it comes to responsibility.
And s3 starts the immensely entertaining Hook & Charming
